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Date of Meeting: Monday, November 29, 2010
Location: Town Hall, 221 Main Street
Time: 6:30 PM – 8:10 PM
Members Present: Chairman James Stanton; Roger Deal; Ken Sydow
Others Present: Nancy Colbert, Town Administrator; Kim Rozak, Town Counsel
Financial Warrants signed in approval.
- The Board scheduled a workshop for Friday, December 10 at 2 pm. Agenda to include: Business Marketing Committee proposals, Succession planning; Salary Surveys; Regional Dispatch
- The Board approved the draft meeting minutes __?.
Town Administrator’s Report:
- Demolition Delay – Nancy spoke with Bruce Symonds of the Historical Commission to follow up on his reasoning for suggesting the Board consider a Demolition Delay bylaw by placed on the warrant. He noted:
- that the Historic District regulations only applies to 20 or so buildings, whereas the proposed bylaw would apply to all properties over 100 years old (pre-1910); and that
- he is aware of a historic building now on the market that may be threatened with demolition by a new owner.
Selectman Sydow commented that the proposal seemed wide-reaching and could potentially have a negative impact on property owners and home values. He would need additional information about the threat the bylaw is trying to address before supporting such an effort. Roger Deal and Jim Stanton concurred that the additional regulation seemed excessive without more specifics. Nancy will contact Bruce to see if any additional information could be provided.
- Regional Dispatch Initiative – Nancy reported that an initial series of questions to the leaders of this initiative and have received correspondence back. We have a better idea of how dispatch will be operated and run from the remote Worcester location – we are now working on solutions to the administrative gap left in the PD (e.g business line phone calls, walk-in traffic, prisoner and property monitoring), as well as estimating costs which will remain outside of an inter-municipal agreement with Worcester. One of the central policy decisions to be made will be how we address an “unmanned” station during non-business hours.
Roger asked about the potential cost savings of this proposal. Nancy responded that costs continue to be estimated, but the basic information received from Worcester indicated about $80,000/year for 911 call dispatch, minus an approximate $40,000 regional 911 grant for Boylston. So, for next year, actual costs build from a minimum of $40,000 plus equipment, maintenance, phone lines, and other yet-to-be estimated costs.
Ken commented that this proposal has nothing to do with the current staff; rather, the Board should consider what is in the Town’s best interest in light of the potential for savings.
Jim asked Nancy to obtain statistics about the frequency of visits and phone calls to the Police Department after 6 pm over the last year. He asked this information be provided by the next workshop date.
- 2010 Tax Recap – Our recap has been approved by DOR, and the tax rate is set at $15.66/thousand. Budgeted expenditures approved by Town Meeting in May increased only 1.6% over the prior year. The reduction in property values, and reductions in projected revenues, combined with an initial payment of approximately $350,000 on the Tahanto project, contributed to the tax rate increase as discussed by the Board of Assessors at our last meeting.
- Town Hall Gym and Locker Room Heating Project – This project is well underway with LePan Mechanical – gas piping is installed, the new boiler has been delivered and is in place. One item’s projected delivery date is in late December, so the project may not be completed until late January.
- Draft 2010 Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s) General Permit – Chip Burkhardt and Nancy met with representatives from Woodward and Curran, our storm water consultants, to review our current compliance with our existing MS4 permit and to discuss the draft permit requirements which have been proposed by the EPA. According to their estimate, the new draft permit requirements would considerably increase the annual work and cost involved in compliance. Don Parker and Nancy will attend a meeting on December 10th hosted by DCR to see if a regional approach could help cut down on this future expense.
The Board agreed that Nancy should draft letters to our legislative delegation informing them of this potential impact to communities.
- Ambulance Bill Abatement Request Policy – Fire Chief Joe Flanagan could not be present this evening, but will attend a future Board meeting to discuss this item.
- Tri-Town Affordable Housing Meeting – Our final meeting of the regional affordable housing project is scheduled for Tuesday, November 30, 2011 at 7 pm, here in the conference room.
61B Notice: Parcels 23-25, and 17-39
Jim Stanton asked Nancy how long they had to act on this notice. Nancy responded she would have to double check, but that she believed at least 90 days was allowed. Roger indicated his upset about a commercial property being developed by a non-profit entity and the resulting loss of potential tax revenue. Ken echoed Roger’s comments, and said we should ensure there is no value to the Town before deciding not to pursue it. Jim asked Nancy to get some information as to the commercial viability of the property and report back to the Board.
Upon a motion made by Ken Sydow and seconded by Roger Deal, and voted All in Favor, the meeting was adjourned at 8:10 PM.
Respectfully Submitted,
Nancy Colbert Puff
Town Administrator
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